A year of change, a future of growth - CEO Message

A year of change, a future of growth – CEO Message

Dec

A year of change, a future of growth – CEO Message

Dear friends,

What an incredible year it has been. Adjusting to life following two years of COVID lockdowns hasn’t been easy for Tweddle families and our clinicians, but every day we see parents and staff demonstrating resilience, hope and genuine excitement for the future. We are incredibly grateful for the families that place their trust in us to care for them during challenging times.

It has been a year of donning high vis vests and hard hats as we prepare for the highly anticipated 2023 opening of our Wyndham Early Parenting Centre and unveiling of our Footscray site redevelopment.

This year our clinicians have continued to work alongside hundreds of babies, toddlers, and their families as they emerge out of the Pandemic. We are grateful that they continue to place their trust in Tweddle. We share a video here of mum Megan, who talks about how her life was changed following her Tweddle Residential program.

Two significant events in 2022 included Tweddle’s Government House Centenary celebration and the Infant Mental Health Awareness Week seminar. Both events allowed us to acknowledge and thank partnerships and stakeholders, as well as advocate for infants in a global movement which is raising awareness of the first 1000 days and infant mental health.

Our teams are everything to us. They are Assessment and Intake, Residential, PASDS, Psychology support, Childbirth Education, In-Home, MyTime, Prison program, HoPES, Working Out Dads, Telehealth, Online and Corporate support.

As Tweddle expands and grows, I would like to express our appreciation to staff, donors, philanthropists, our funders, and partners.

We are grateful to the Department of Health, and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and the ongoing support of our local Member for Footscray, Ms Katie Hall MP. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Victorian Health Building Authority and our new Early Parenting Centre partners at Bendigo Health and Barwon Health.

Tweddle is all about creating positive and lasting change for every single family. We look forward to helping more families get off to a healthy and happy start to life in 2023.

Jacquie O’Brien
Tweddle CEO

Tweddle CEO Ms Jacquie O Brien

Partnerships, Wyndham’s new EPC and our Footscray Redevelopment

With a population that grows by more than 100 babies a week, Tweddle couldn’t be more excited about the impending birth of its new Wyndham Early Parenting Centre with a due date of mid-2023.

This year Tweddle CEO Ms Jacquie O Brien joined Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas and Treasurer of Victoria and Member for Werribee Tim Pallas at the location of Wyndham’s new Early Parenting Centre on the Princes Highway in Werribee for a site inspection.

In 2023 we also look forward to unveiling our newly redeveloped Footscray Early Parenting Centre and supporting Barwon Health and Bendigo Health with their Early Parenting Centres. Visit here for more information.

Tweddle Wyndham Early Parenting Centre site

Training the Champions

Tweddle is thrilled to have passed a significant milestone in the delivery of Victoria’s Maternal and Child Health Nurse (MCHN) Workforce Sleep and Settling model of Training. Since commencing the training, two thousand and nineteen Maternal and Child Health Nurses and Community Health workers working within the maternal and child health sector have undertaken 50 full day workshops.

More recently, a total of 96 Victorian MCH sector representatives attended an all-day Train the Trainer session. These ‘Sleep and Settling champions’ will support new MCH staff and graduates (who have not attended the workshop training provided this year) to successfully implement the Sleep and Settling Model of Care in their local community.

Careers at Tweddle

With our incredible expansion, excellent career opportunities, employee benefits and conditions with the right work/life balance, Tweddle might be the perfect fit for your next career move. We are currently recruiting for a Quality Manager that will support Tweddle’s life changing work as a specialist public hospital. To view this exciting role and others, head to our Careers page.

Join the team at Tweddle

Weekly Yoga and Therapy Dog visits – rewriting the term sleep school at Tweddle

It’s not surprising to know that Tweddle is occasionally referred to as a sleep school. What may surprise some, is that in addition to supporting parents and infants with sleep and settling, Tweddle offers a holistic service that includes yoga and a weekly visit from a therapy dog. Why are these additional programs so important?

Tweddle has a focus on relationships, and supporting and strengthening the mental health of babies, toddlers and their families. Evidence shows that animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has countless health, social, behavioural and emotional benefits.

Tweddle also invites parents to participate in weekly playful and nurturing yoga session. Yoga teaches adults and children to focus on both minds and bodies, can help with coordination and ability to focus, relax and help relieve stress. You can read all about Tweddle’s programs here.

Tweddle Yoga for families

“You’ve got this, you know what you’re doing, don’t doubt yourself”

Megan came to Tweddle teary and exhausted. Her daughter Abigail had reflux and colic which Megan felt was impacting their bonding and ability to read her daughter’s cues. She felt sleep deprived and was worried about whether she was doing things right.

We are grateful to Megan for sharing her Tweddle journey with us. As a specialist Early Parenting Centre (EPC), we employ an incredible team of experienced and caring clinicians. You can see her 5 minute video here.

As Megan’s Tweddle clinicians reminded her “You’ve got this, you know what you’re doing, don’t doubt yourself”. Click Megan’s image below to hear her story.

Thank you from the Tweddle Foundation

We’d like to thank the William Angliss Charitable Fund, the Hobsons Bay Community Fund, the Commonwealth Bank Point Cook, Brimbank Communities for Children, the Department of Education and Training, Ms Romy Katz, Ms Savannah Allen, Ms Jo Norton, Ms Lesley Yates, GAIA Skincare, Knit One Give One, Fay Stankovich, Brenda Cottee and Rhonda Doyle who dedicate many hours of in-kind work to provide knitted items and quilts for families, loved by Tweddle families and staff.

We would like to thank parents that shared their Tweddle journeys with us on social media. These insights allowed parents and professionals to broaden their understanding of what we do at Tweddle.

A special mention to 1939 Tweddle baby Jim Hevey, an ongoing advocate who shares his story on the Tweddle Centenary website.

Summer Closures and Support throughout Summer

Tweddle will be closed over the festive period from Thursday 22nd December and reopen on Monday January 16th 2023.

Tweddle’s MyTime groups align with school terms so will commence in the first week of February. If you need parenting support through the holiday period, reach out to the following organisations ;